IREN shares surge nearly 30% as bitcoin miner inks $9.7 billion AI cloud deal with Microsoft
Bitcoin miner IREN secured a five-year, $9.7 billion AI cloud services contract with Microsoft, causing its stock to surge nearly 30%.Summary
IREN, a company transitioning from a bitcoin miner to an AI diversifier, announced a significant five-year agreement with Microsoft to provide GPU cloud services, valued at $9.7 billion, which includes a 20% prepayment. Concurrently, IREN entered a separate $5.8 billion deal with Dell Technologies for GPUs and related equipment. The new GPUs will be deployed through 2026 at IREN's 750MW Childress, Texas campus, utilizing new liquid-cooled data centers. IREN's co-CEO, Daniel Roberts, highlighted the partnership as validation of their AI Cloud platform and access to global hyperscalers. Following the news, IREN's stock jumped nearly 30% in pre-market trading. Analysts at Bernstein had recently raised their price target for IREN based on projections that its AI cloud buildout could yield $500 million in annual revenue by early 2026. Microsoft stated that IREN's expertise in integrated AI cloud infrastructure and secured power capacity made them a strategic partner.
(Source：The Block)